Beats Studio Buds Plus Review: A Month of Daily Use and Running

Introduction

The Beats Studio Buds Plus are true wireless earbuds aimed at everyday listening rather than at dedicated running gear, and they are not pitched as a sports-first pair. Even so, plenty of people want one set of earbuds that covers commutes, calls and steady runs, and that is exactly where these earbuds make a case for themselves. In the UK they are priced at £179.99, and in the US they come in at $169.99, which puts them comfortably below the AirPods Pro 2 and below the Beats Fit Pro.

Over a month of daily use, including short and long runs indoors and outdoors as well as a race, they behaved consistently. Nothing about them felt fragile or overcomplicated. They simply worked, and they worked across both major phone platforms. That reliability is a bigger part of the story here than any single headline feature.

Who the Beats Studio Buds Plus Are For

These earbuds are built for people who want one pair to do a bit of everything. They work with Android and iOS, and Android users get a dedicated companion app plus Find My Device support. iOS users get the same Find My style support along with spatial audio for surround sound. Controls for music, calls and your voice assistant live on the earbuds themselves, so you are not tied to a phone in your hand.

That cross-platform approach matters. If you split your time between an Android phone and an iPhone, or you use a running watch alongside your phone, these earbuds do not lock you into one ecosystem. They also suit anyone who takes a lot of calls and wants a pair that stays comfortable through a full working day.

They are less obviously suited to runners who want maximum lockdown for fast sessions and races. There are no wing tips here, so the security of the fit rests entirely on the silicone ear tips and the shape of the housing.

What Is New Compared With the Original Studio Buds

The most useful change is the addition of an extra small ear tip. There are now four sizes in the box, extra small, small, medium and large, which widens the range of ears the earbuds can properly seal with. A better seal improves both comfort and the effectiveness of the noise cancelling.

Beats also introduced a new venting design intended to improve active noise cancellation and transparency performance, with claims of up to 1.6 times more active noise cancellation than the original Studio Buds. The microphones are described as three times bigger, aimed at improving voice quality on calls. The earbuds come in three colors, including a new transparent finish.

Fit, Controls, and Comfort for Running

Fit is the part that decides everything else with earbuds. If they do not stay put, sound quality and battery life stop mattering. Without wing tips, the Beats Studio Buds Plus rely on the silicone tips and their own shape, and over a month of outdoor runs, indoor sessions, longer efforts and a race, they never once fell out. They felt secure, and there was no sense of them working loose mid-run.

For steady running at an easy pace, that fit is entirely convincing. On race day, some runners may still prefer the extra reassurance of a wing tip design, even if the practical difference is small. Comfort is the other half of the picture, and these earbuds stayed comfortable over longer sessions, which is not always true of designs that clamp harder.

Controls are physical buttons built into the housing on each side. Skipping tracks, handling calls and switching between the two main sound modes all work through simple presses and holds, with a notification tone confirming a mode change. Physical controls are generally the better option when you are moving, and they remained easy to use even at quicker paces.

Sound Quality, Noise Cancellation, and Transparency

The sound profile cannot be customized, so what you get out of the box is what you get. That profile is a solid one: balanced and versatile, with a good level of bass and power, and a good amount of detail. It handled drum and bass on harder runs as comfortably as podcasts and audiobooks on slower ones, and it coped well across a wide range of genres.

Active noise cancellation and transparency mode are the two key modes here. Both are competent but neither is best in class. The noise cancelling reduces a lot of the world around you but does not entirely block everything out, and it does not match the AirPods Pro 2 for sheer effectiveness. It sits closer to the level of the Beats Fit Pro, and it is broadly in the same territory as other well regarded options rather than above them.

Sweat and water resistance is rated at IPX4 for the earbuds, the same rating as the AirPods Pro and the Beats Fit Pro. The charging case is not IPX4 rated, so it is worth keeping the case dry and treating it as something to protect rather than something that can be rained on without a thought.

Battery Life, Charging, and Connectivity

Beats quotes up to nine hours from a single charge and up to 36 hours in total with the charging case. A five minute charge in the case is enough for about an hour of playback. Charging is over USB-C, and there is no wireless charging support. In practice, running with active noise cancellation active pulls the figure down to roughly five to six hours, while using the earbuds without noise cancelling or transparency gets you closer to the quoted nine.

The case itself is a sensible size. It fits into a running pack without fuss and will drop into a shorts pocket, so carrying it around is not a chore, even if it is not the smallest case on the market.

Connectivity was steady. The earbuds were paired with an iPhone 14, a Google Pixel phone, a Garmin running watch, an Apple Watch Ultra and a MacBook Air, and apart from one small glitch during a race, there were no dropouts. What you do not get is multipoint pairing, so they will not hold two active sources at once. Android users need to download the app to get the most from them, and that app is fairly basic in what it offers, while iOS integration is noticeably slicker and shows charging status for the case and each earbud clearly.

Things to Consider Before Buying

Sound cannot be customized, so if you prefer to tune your earbuds to a specific signature, this pair will not offer that. There is no wireless charging, no multipoint, and the charging case is not water resistant. Noise cancelling is good but not class leading.

The fit is the other consideration. Without wing tips, security depends on getting a proper seal, and although four ear tip sizes make that easier, it will not suit every ear. Runners who race hard and want the firmest possible lockdown may want to compare against the Beats Fit Pro, which adds wing tips, a slightly bigger driver, noise cancellation that adapts to your environment and fit, and deeper Apple ecosystem features including spatial audio with head tracking and an ear tip fit test. The trade-off is that those wing tips can become uncomfortable on longer runs.

Buying Advice

As a general pair of earbuds that can also handle steady running, the Beats Studio Buds Plus make a lot of sense. They are cheaper than both the AirPods Pro 2 and the Beats Fit Pro, they work with Android and iOS, call quality is strong indoors and outdoors, the physical controls are well judged, and the battery life is solid enough to get through a week without constant charging.

If your priority is the best possible noise cancellation and the deepest set of Apple ecosystem features, and you are willing to pay more, the AirPods Pro 2 remains the more accomplished option. If your priority is the most secure fit for fast running and racing, the Beats Fit Pro has the advantage on paper, provided you get on with wing tips over longer distances. For everyone else, these sit in a useful middle ground: comfortable for long sessions, capable on calls, and easy to live with day to day.

They are also a clear step up over the original Studio Buds, thanks largely to the extra ear tip size, the improved venting and the larger microphones, which together make them a better all round headphone than what came before.

Conclusion

A month of daily use and running left a straightforward impression. The Beats Studio Buds Plus fit well, sound balanced and versatile, handle calls reliably, and deliver battery life that holds up in real use. They are not the last word in noise cancelling, and they skip a few features that more expensive earbuds include, but they cover the essentials well and they cost less than the obvious alternatives. If you want one pair of earbuds for commutes, calls and everyday running, they are an easy recommendation to consider.